Though no match for last year, or Game 1 for that matter, the second game of the NBA Finals did well.
Game 2 of the Cavaliers/Warriors NBA Finals earned a 9.8 final rating and 17.5 million viewers on ABC Sunday night, down 9% in ratings and viewership from the same matchup last year (10.8, 19.2M) but up 9% and 16%, respectively, from Heat/Spurs in 2014 (9.0, 15.1M). Figures do not include WatchESPN (267K) or ESPN Deportes.
The Warriors’ 33-point rout peaked with 19.4 million viewers in the fast-nationals, a full five million fewer than last year’s Game 2 peak of 24.4 million. That game went to overtime.
Despite the lower numbers, Sunday’s blowout trails only last year as the most-watched Game 2 of the NBA Finals since 76ers/Lakers in 2001 (18.7M). It also ranks as the fourth-highest rated Game 2 over that span, behind last year, Heat/Thunder in 2012 (10.4) and Pistons/Lakers in 2004 (10.7).
Of the eight Cavaliers/Warriors NBA Finals games, it was the lowest rated, the least-watched and the first to post a decline from the previous year. It was also the first of those games to earn a single-digit rating.
Compared to Thursday’s series opener, ratings declined 12% and viewership 9% from an 11.1 and 19.2 million — the largest declines from Game 1 to Game 2 of the NBA Finals since 2003, the last time Game 2 aired on a Friday night.
Game 2 had a 6.5 rating among adults 18-49, down 12% from last year (7.4) but up 8% from 2014 (6.0). The 6.5 ties the fourth-highest Game 2 rating in the demo since 2001, behind last year, 2012 (7.1) and 2004 (7.0). It had a 6.2 in adults 18-34, down 15% from last year (7.3) but up 13% from 2014 (5.5).
Through two games, the NBA Finals has averaged 18.3 million viewers in the fast-nationals — down less than one percent from last year (18.32M to 18.27M) and the second-highest average since ABC began carrying the event in 2003.
(Sun. numbers from ESPN, with additional information from Programming Insider)
